VARANASI, Feb. 28 -- Two men, including an accused carrying a Rs.25,000 reward, were arrested from separate locations in Varanasi in connection with a codeine-based cough syrup smuggling racket, police said on Friday. The accused were identified as Manoj Kumar Yadav, 48, wanted in a case registered at Kotwali police station, and his 21-year-old son Lakshya Yadav -- both residents of Varanasi. A police team led by Kotwali inspector in-charge Dayashankar Singh arrested Manoj in connection with the case under sections 61(2), 318(4), 338, 336(3) and 340(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) along with sections 8/21/29/26D of the NDPS Act. Lakshya was arrested in a separate case under sections 8/21/22/29 of the NDPS Act. Assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Vijay Pratap Singh said the investigation revealed that the accused allegedly earned money through hawala transactions by smuggling codeine-based cough syrup to Bangladesh via West Bengal and Tripura for non-medicinal use. They allegedly acted in connivance with other accused and used forged GST invoices and e-way bills to show large-scale purchases and sales through a Ranchi-based firm, Shaili Traders, to various medical establishments. During interrogation, Manoj allegedly confessed that he was in contact with the alleged mastermind, Shubham Jaiswal, and had carried out illegal transactions involving around 1.26 lakh bottles of cough syrup worth approximately Rs.2 crore. Police said the consignments never physically reached Saptasagar in Varanasi; instead, they were diverted elsewhere, while the accused allegedly handled only the documentation and billing for the firms to which the goods were shown as supplied. Further probe is underway. htc...